He graduated in 1971 at the Moscow State Institute of International Relations (MGIMO) before joining the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. From 1993 to 1998, he was Minister-Counselor at the Embassy of the Russian Federation to the French Republic. From 1998 to 2001, he was director of the first European Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia.

From 31 May 2001 to 3 January 2007, Alexander Orlov is Permanent Representative of the Russian Federation to the Council of Europe in Strasbourg. He returned to Moscow in 2007, where he headed the Department of Relations with the subjects of the Russian Federation. On October 14, 2008, Alexander Orlov was appointed Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to France and on the following December 1, he was also accredited to the Principality of Monaco.